allergies to rape straw

[nikkiclarke]

hi i have a traditional show cob who has showed symptoms of what looked liked craked heels, except it was not dry and cracked they were just weepy and red and sore looking.
i like most this time of year, put it down to the ground conditions i kept him in and treated it as though it were cracked heels after a month it had spread to his front heels aswell as his hind heels. after looking back and by means of elimination i discovered he was allergic to the bedding i was using and now i have changed it completely his heels in the space of a week have showed signs of improvement and are now just a pink colour. i was just wondering if anyone had had a similar experience. i am hoping he will be back to normal along with hair groth by the begining of the season. on a good note i did find the bedding very economical and easy to muck out although in the damper weather it did not look as good as it did in dry condition and the smell was indeed strong but it used to taste more than smell if that makes sense it used to catch in my throat but it was a nice bed in that you could scrape the top and take wet out without too much waste.
i would be interested in knowing if anyone else had this allergy to bliss bedding.

 

[martlin]

bliss bedding caused hell on earth to three of my horses, but I have nedz bedz pro now which is also rape straw and don't have the problem, so I think it might be an allergy to a particular treatment they use rather than rape straw itself

 

[cre8tivekid]

same thing happened to me, but with sundown yellow, which is coated with eucalyptus, Bliss is coated with eucalyptus and citronella according to their website, so similar.

Both of my boys got weeping red cracked heels, which I treated is like mud fever and it got worse and worse, despite them being kept in 24/7. Changed the bedding and the weeping stopped and redness and swelling subsides.

Only white legs affected; fortunately the black ones are fine.

I think that where the skin had been rubbed (by a combination of brushing boots and sand from the arena) the eucalyptus has aggravated the skin and caused the reaction.

It has been extremely painful for both the boys and cost me a lot in vets bills and changing bedding, so not a good experience.